Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948 in Cowes,
Isle of Wight) is an Oscar winning British actor.
He was educated at Sherborne School
in Dorset, (c. 1962-1966), a member of Abbey House,
where he rose to the modest rank of Hallkeeper - a
disciplinary role he performed with humour and compassion.
He achieved some fame as the drummer and harmonica
player (most memorably for his rendition of "Moon
River" on said instrument) in a four-man school
band which performed, in a classroom normally used
as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily
exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons.
He was also known within Abbey House as half (the
less talented half, oddly) of a comic duo which performed
skits on Hallowe'en and at end-of-term House Suppers.
His academic career was undistinguished.
He began his acting career in Bristol,
then appeared on the London stage as John the Baptist
opposite David Essex in Godspell. After several appearances
on British television (clips of his appearances on
the children's television series "Playaway"
are often repeated), his film debut came in 1980 in
Nijinsky. The role which shot him to fame was that
of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn
Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in 1981. Brideshead brought
him back together with Anthony Andrews, with whom
he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier.
Also in 1981, he starred in the film The French Lieutenant's
Woman.
In 1984 Irons won a Tony Award for
his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The
Real Thing. In 1988 he starred in the dual role of
mad twin physicians in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers.
Other films include Reversal of Fortune (for which
he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Kafka, Damage,
M. Butterfly, The House of the Spirits, Lolita (remake),
and Die Hard With a Vengeance. In 2005, Mr. Irons
starred in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. One of
his most famous roles has turned out to be the voice
of Scar in The Lion King.
He is married to Irish actress Sinéad
Cusack, and is the father of two sons, Samuel Irons
(born 16 September 1978) and Maximilian Irons (born
17 October 1985), both of whom have appeared in films
with their father. He is famous among fans of The
Simpsons for having a name difficult to anagram
Selected Filmography
Inland Empire (2006)
Eragon (2006)
The Magic 7 (2005) (TV)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Being Julia (2004)
The Time Machine (2002)
The Night of the Iguana (2001)
Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Faeries (1999) (voice)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
Lolita (1997)
Chinese Box (1997)
Stealing Beauty (1996)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
The Lion King (1994) (voice)
The House of the Spirits (1993)
M. Butterfly (1993)
Damage (1992)
Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Dead Ringers (1988)
The Mission (1986)
The Wild Duck (1983)
Moonlighting (1982)
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
Nijinsky (1980)
source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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